‘They Would Beat Or Even Kill You’ – Bishop Kukah’s Brother Narrates Suffering In Kidnappers’ Den

The brother of Matthew Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Ishaya Kukah, has shared his harrowing experience of being held captive by bandits.

He recounted how he and other victims were treated during their time in captivity, describing the conditions as unbearably harsh.

Speaking after 60 rescued victims were handed over to their families in Abuja on Tuesday by the National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu, and Minister of Defence Badaru Abubakar, Kukah revealed that he had lost hope of surviving.

“Frankly speaking, I had already given up. I didn’t think I would come out alive because of how they were treating us in the bush,” he said.

He described the extreme conditions, where the victims were chained in pairs, and they were forced to move together to relieve themselves.

“We suffered too much. They used to chain us in twos. If you wanted to defecate or urinate, you had to move together,” he added.

Kukah also spoke about the intense pressure placed on victims to agree to pay a ransom to the bandits, often under threat of severe punishment or death.

“If they noticed you were reluctant, they would beat or even kill you,” he said.

He expressed gratitude to the federal government for securing their release, stating, “If not for the federal government, we would still be in the bush. Thank you for what you have done. God bless you.”

Adesanya Michael, a deputy director at the National Assembly Commission who was kidnapped from his residence in Kubwa, Abuja, also shared his ordeal and advocated for a non-combative approach to banditry.

Michael, who was abducted on January 26 and released on April 7, explained that the bandits, mostly between the ages of 17 and 21, were often illiterate and victims of circumstance.

“I was chained for 32 days. Most of them can’t even count up to a million. They don’t know what they’re doing,” he said.

Michael proposed that rather than resorting to violence, the government should focus on arresting, educating, and rehabilitating the bandits, many of whom, he believed, had the potential to learn trades and become productive members of society.

“Instead of killing them, the government should arrest, educate, and rehabilitate them. Some of them want to learn trades. They can still be useful,” Michael suggested.

He also recounted a deeply traumatic moment when the bandits killed his wife in front of him.

“When they kill someone in front of you, you will give them anything they want. They killed my wife before me. At that moment, if they had asked for my head, I would have given it,” Michael said.